Franchi Gymnopaidiai Hysiai

Commemorating the War Dead in Ancient Sparta. The Gymnopaidiai and the Battle of Hysiai
Elena Franchi
1. The Gymnopaidiai, Hysiai and the songs for the fallen in Thyrea. It is usually assumed that
the festival of the Gymnopaidiai is linked with the battle of Hysiai, because according to ancient
traditions the festival was founded in the year 668BC and the battle was fought in the previous year.
The aim of this paper is to show that this link is wrong: none of the ancient sources on the
Gymnopaidiai mentions Hysiai, whereas another battle is cited, that fought in Thyrea.
The traditional belief in the link between the Gymnopaidiai and Hysiai is the consequence of a
superficial reading of a passage of Sosibius, writing in the 3rd or in the 2nd BC1:
ΘΥΡ ΕΑ Τ Ι Κ ΟΙ . Οὕ τω κ αλ ο ῦν τα ί τι ν ε ς στ έ φ αν ο ι π αρ ὰ Λ α κ εδ αι μ ον ί οι ς, ὥ ς
φησ ι Σω σί β ι ος ἐ ν τ ο ῖς π ε ρὶ Θ υσ ιῶ ν ( F G r Hi st 5 9 5 F 5 ) , ψ ιλ ίν ου ς α ὐτ ο ὺς
φ ά σ κω ν ν ῦ ν ὀν ο μ ά ζ ε σθ αι, ὄν τα ς ἐ κ φ οιν ί κω ν . φ έ ρε ιν δ᾽ α ὐ τ οὺ ς ὑπ ό μν ημ α
τῆς ἐν Θυ ρ έᾳ γ εν ομ έ ν ης ν ί κη ς τ ο ὺς π ρ ο σ τ άτ ας τ ῶ ν ἀγ ο μ έν ω ν χο ρῶ ν ἐ ν τ ῇ
ἑο ρ τῇ τα ύτ ῃ, ὅ τ ε κ αὶ τὰς Γυμ ν οπ αι δ ιὰ ς ἐ πι τε λ ο ῦσ ιν . χ ο ρ οὶ δ᾽ εἰ σὶν τ ὸ μ ὲν
π ρ όσ ω πα ίδ ω ν τ ὸ δ᾽ ἐξ ἀ ρ ίσ τ ου ἀ ν δ ρῶ ν , γυ μν ῶ ν ὀρ χ ου μ έν ω ν κ αὶ ᾀ δ όν τ ω ν
Θα λη τ ᾶ κ αὶ Ἀ λ κμ ᾶ ν ο ς ᾄ σμ α τα κ αὶ τ ο ὺς Δι ον υσ ο δ ό τ ου τ ο ῦ Λ ά κω ν ος
πα ιᾶ ν α ς.
5
5 ὅ τ ε κ α ὶ τ ὰ ς Γ υ μ ν ο π α ι δ ι ὰ ς ἐ π ι τ ε λ ο ῦ σ ι ν c o d d . : s e c l . J a c o b y 5-6 τ ὸ μ ὲ ν π ρ ό σ ω . . . ἀ ν δ ρ ῶ ν A; ὁ μ ὲ ν
πρόσω παίδων, ὁ δ’ἐξῆς ἀρίστων ἀνδρῶν Casaubon; τὸ μὲν εὐπροσώπων παίδων, τὸ δ᾽ ἐξ
ἀρίστων ἀνδρῶν Schweighäuser; εἰσιν <γ΄>, ὁ μὲν πρόσω παίδων, <ὁ δ’ἐκ δεξιοῦ γερόντων>, ὁ
δ ’ ἐ ξ ἀ ρ ι σ τ ε ρ ο ῦ ἀ ν δ ρ ῶ ν W y t t e n b a c h ; π ρ ὸ ς ἕ ω ‒ ἐ ξ ἀ ρ ί σ τ ο υ Wi l a m o w i t z , B ö l t e , l a c u n a m p o s t
παίδων suspicatus; εἰσιν <γ΄>, ὁ μὲν πρός ἕω παίδων, <ὁ δ’ἐκ δεξιοῦ γερόντων>, ὁ δ’ἐξ
ἀριστεροῦ ἀνδρῶν Ziehen † πρόσω παίδων, τὸ δ᾽ ἐξ ἀρίστου† Jacoby πρὸς ἕω ‒ ἐξ ἀριστεροῦ
Davies
According to Athenaeus, Sosibius says that the Lacedaemonians’ name for some of the crowns
worn in commemoration of the victory at Thyrea by the leaders of the choruses staged during the
festival which also involves the Gymnopaidiai was thyreatikoi: “The choruses are as follows: in
front, the chorus of paides, and on the left the chorus of andres. They dance naked and sing songs
(ᾄσµατα) of Thaletas and Alcman, as well as paians of the Lakonian Dionysodotos” (transl. Ducat
2006).
The text is highly problematic,2 but the questions on which we will focus are: how many festivals
are involved? What are the connections between the choruses and the festivals? And most
1
Jacoby 1955a, p. 635 f; Boring 1979, p. 56; Lévy 2007, p. 277–79; Richer 2012, p. 389 and n. 30.
For the problems concerning the name of the crowns and the number and the composition of the choruses see Richer
2012, pp. 389, 398 and esp. n. 76, p. 401 and esp n. 87, pp. 601, 603 with previous bibliography, and Franchi 2014.
2
1
importantly: what battles are mentioned by Sosibius? In which battle did the dead commemorated
during these festivals fall? 3
Tackling these issues, in the first part of the paper I will question the historicity of the battle of
Hysiai; in the second part I will try to distinguish different festivals in the passage of Sosibius; in
the third part I will try to identify which battle of Thyrea is referred to by Sosibius and to
understand if it is the same battle mentioned by a not at all negligible lexicographical tradition.
2. The historicity of Hysiai and the foundation of the Gymnopaidiai. The foundation of the
Gymnopaidiai, the puerorum nudum certamen, is dated between 668 and 665.4 Modern scholars
note that Pausanias (2.24.7) dates a battle between Sparta and Argos to the year 669 BC, at Hysiai;
this was in fact the only time that the Spartans were defeated by Argos.5 This is why scholars link
the two pieces of information: the battle of Hysiai and the foundation of the Gymnopaidiai some
years later.6 But Pausanias doesn’t mention the Gymnopaidiai in that passage; moreover, the
numeral of the date on the manuscript is corrupted,7 and the battle is referred to nowhere else;
3
Nilsson 1906, pp. 140–42; Hiller von Gärtringen 1912; Bölte 1929; Ehrenberg 1929, col. 1380; Ziehen 1929, col.
1510, 1516; Meritt 1931; Andrewes 1949, p. 77; Wade-Gery 1949; Huxley 1962, p. 50, 72 f; Michell 1952, p. 187;
1953, p. 147; Calame 1977 I, p. 35; II, p. 352 ff; Parker 1989, pp. 140–50; Billot 1989/1990; Petterson 1992, p. 44 ff;
Robertson 1992, p. 147 ff; Sergent 1993, p. 164, 173; Shaw 2003, pp. 176–83; Richer 2005b; Ducat 2006, pp. 265–74;
Nobili 2011, pp. 38 ff; Richer 2012, pp. 383-422 with previous bibliography.
4
Euseb. Vers. Arm. 1351 Schoene; Hier. Chron. ad Ol. 28.1 Schoene; Synk. 401.23 Mosshammer, who, as it often
happens (Mosshammer 1979, p. XXVI ff; Adler-Tuffin 2002, p. XXXVI, LIII, LX-LXI), uses the same source as
Eusebius and so strengthens the idea that Eusebius is referring to the Gymnopaidiai.
5
ἐπανελθοῦσι δὲ ἐς τὴν ἐπὶ Τεγέας ὁδόν ἐστιν ἐν δεξιαῖ τοῦ ὀνομαζομένου Τρόχου Κεγχρεαί. τὸ δὲ
ὄνομα ἐφ᾽ ὅτῳ τῷ χωρίῳ γέγονεν, οὐ λέγουσι, πλὴν εἰ μὴ καὶ τοῦτο ἄρα ὠνομάσθη διὰ τὸν Πειρήνης
παῖδα Κεγχρίαν. καὶ πολυάνδρια ἐνταῦθά ἐστιν Ἀργείων νικησάντων μάχῃ Λακεδαιμονίους περὶ
Ὑσιάς. τὸν δὲ ἀγῶνα τοῦτον συμβάντα εὕρισκον Ἀθηναίοις ἄρχοντος Πεισιστράτου, τετάρτῳ δὲ ἔτει
τῆς <ἑβδόμης καὶ εἰκοστῆς> Ὀλυμπιάδος ἣν Εὐρύβοτος Ἀθηναῖος ἐνίκα στάδιον. καταβάντος δὲ ἐς τὸ
χθαμαλώτερον ἐρείπια Ὑσιῶν ἐστι πόλεώς ποτε ἐν τῇ Ἀργολίδι, καὶ τὸ πταῖσμα Λακεδαιμονίοις
ἐνταῦθα γενέσθαι λέγουσιν (2.24.7 Rocha-Pereira).
6
Most scholars consider the battle of Hysiai to be historical simply because Pausanias said it happened and because it is
likely to have happened (see Cartledge 1979, p. 125 f and again in Cartledge 2009, p. 44; Pritchett 1980, p. 67 f;
Hendriks 1982, p. 7 ff; Gehrke 1990, p. 48 n. 46; Nafissi 1991, p. 37 n. 29; Murray 19932, nn. 143, 165, 171; Parker
1993, nn. 55-56; Osborne 1996, nn. 184, 289). More cautious are Koiv (2003, p. 119 f) and Hall (1995, p. 591). As far
as I know the first scholar who denied the historicity of Hysiai was Kelly (1970a, p. 999; 1970b; 1976, p. 88), followed
by Robertson (1992, pp. 208–216) and Meier (1998, p. 73). According to Kelly the archaic battle of Hysiai was
invented by the Argives to set a victorious precedent to the defeat at Hysiai of the year 417 against the Spartans (Thuc.
5.83). Robertsons goes further in claiming that the story of archaic Hysiai was invented by "an Argive chauvinist" to set
a victorious answer to the victory of the Spartans at Thyrea 50 years before: "Pausanias’ source asserted that Hysiai
was an Argive counterstroke, just fifty years later" (1992, pp. 182 f, 209 f). Richer takes up again the matter of the
duplication of Hysiai reasserting the historicity of the old battle and interpreting the new battle as a Spartan vengeance
(2012, p. 607). See Franchi 2012 and 2014.
7
In fact Pausanias dates the battle to the 4th year of the Olympiad in which Eurybotos gained his victory in the race and
Peisistratos was archon in Athens. But the numeral in the archetype codex ß is corrupted. Hitzig proposed to read
ἑβδόµης καὶ εἰκοστῆς, because according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus (3.1.3) a Eurybates won the 27th Olympiad (=
672 BC; the fourth year of the 27th Olympiad would therefore be 669 BC). The proposal of Hitzig is likely, but far from
sure. It is not by chance that scholars don’t establish the chronology of the battle (see e.g. Cartledge 1979, p. 125 f). The
exception is Shaw, who redates the so-called second Messenian war, which according to the opinion of most scholars is
2
finally, how likely is it that the Spartans would have instituted a festival in order to celebrate their
own defeat? On the other hand, one cannot ignore that Sosibius explicitly cites “the victory of
Thyrea” and that Thyrea is also suggested by the name of the crowns, thyreatikoi. Moreover, the
lexicographical tradition also reports a battle of Thyrea, whereas there is no mention of Hysiai.8
This is not insignificant: modern studies have shown the reliability of Phrynicus and Timaeus, on
which most of the other lexicographical sources on the Gymnopaidiai depend.9 Indeed Phrynicus
and Timaeus largely rest on lost commentaries on Plato. These commentaries probably commented
on Plato’s passage on the Gymnopaidiai and in doing so they quoted the passage of Sosibius also
quoted by Athenaeus. As one can infer from reading in detail these lexicographical sources, it is
quite clear that the source of Tymaeus and of Phrynicos reported different details and in any case
read more of Sosibius than Athenaeus. And they confirm that the battle linked to the Gymnopaidiai
was fought in Thyrea- in other words, that this is very likely to be an original datum of Sosibius.
3. How many festivals does Sosibius mention? Sosibius evidently describes not the
Gymnopaidiai, but another festival, which was celebrated at the same time as the Gymnopaidiai.
Grammar says that, and since Boelte modern scholarship has been unanimous on this point. The
question which arises is: which festival?
According to Boelte the other festival is the Parparonia, a festival which includes some choruses
and takes place on mount Parparus, near Thyrea10- indeed, Pliny writes that Parparus is a mountain
a consequence of Hysiai, to the beginning of the 5th century BC: Hysiai should therefore be fought in the year 497
(Shaw 1999; 2003, pp. 13–15, 49, 51, 54, 69–70, 77, 84, 88, 96, 98, 102 ff, 158 ff.). Nevertheless Richer is right in
getting back to supporting Victor Parker’s chronology of the so-called second Messenian war and so considering
Shaw’s chronology of Hysiai too late (Richer 2005a, p. 269 f). See also Franchi 2012 with previous bibliography.
8
Phryn. Praep.Soph., s.v. Γυμνοπαιδιά p. 57, 19-21 De Borries: γυμνοπαιδιά· ἐν Λακεδαίμονι κατὰ τὴν
ἀγορὰν παῖδες γυμνοὶ παιᾶνας ᾖδον εἰς τιμὴν τῶν περὶ Θυρέας <ἀποθανόντων Σπαρτιατῶν>; Timaeus
Lex.Plat., s.v. Γυμνοπαιδία Ruhnken pp. 412-13: Γυμνοπαιδία. χοροὶ ἐν Σπάρτῃ τῆς Λακωνικῆς εἰς θεοὺς
ὕμνους ᾄδοντες, εἰς τιμὴν τῶν ἐν Θυρέαις ἀποθανόντων Σπαρτιατῶν; Suda, s.v. Γυμνοπαίδια vol .I, p.
547 ll. 12-16 Adler: Γυμνοπαίδια, χοροὶ ἐκ παίδων ἐν Σπάρτῃ τῆς Λακωνικῆς εἰς θεοὺς ὕμνους ᾄδοντες,
εἰς τιμὴν τῶν ἐν Θυραιαῖς ἀποθανόντων Σπαρτιατῶν; Phot. Lex., Γυμνοπαιδία Γ 230 Theodoridis:
Γυμνοπαιδία· ἑορτὴ Λακεδαιμονίων, ἐν ᾗ <παῖδες ᾖδον τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι> παιᾶνας γυμνοὶ εἰς τοὺς περὶ
Θυραίαν πεσόντας (cfr. Etym.Mag., s.v. Γυμνοπαιδία p. 243 ll. 4-7 Gaisford); Phot. Lex., Γυμνοπαιδία γ 231
Theodoridis: Γυμνοπαιδία· χοροὶ ἐκ παίδων ἐν Σπάρτῃ τῆς Λακωνικῆς εἰς θεοὺς ὕμνους ᾄδοντες, εἰς
τιμὴν τῶν ἐν Θυραίαις ἀποθανόντων Σπαρτιατῶν (cfr. Lex.Sabb., s.v. Γυμνοπαιδία; Apostol. 5.68 LeutschSchneidewin).
9
See Crusius 1895, p. 182 f; Wentzel 1895, p. 477 ff; Nilsson 1906, p. 141; Adler 1928, p. XVII; Bölte 1929, p. 130 f;
Strouth-French 1941, col. 923; Wade-Gery 1949, p. 80 n. 4; Latte 1953, p. XLVII; Erbse 1965, pp. 226–28; Alpers
1981, p. 73 ff; Theodoridis 1982, p. LXXII-III; Alpers 1988, p. 357; 1990, p. 26; Prandi 1999, p. 16 f; Campbell
Cunningham 2003, pp. 21, 26 ff and 53; Whitaker 2007; Richer 2012, 409-10. For a detailed discussion, see Franchi
2014.
10
See IG V 1, 213, l. 63 ff (IAG 9):
3
in Argolis and Herodian writes that “Parparus is a place near Thyrea where the Argives fought
against the Spartans (τόπος δέ ἐστιν τῷ περὶ Θυρέᾳ, ἔνθα ἐµαχέσαντο Ἀργεῖοι καὶ
Λακεδαιµόνιοι).”11 In fact Thyrea was actually the site where the Spartans defeated the Argives in
the famous battle of the champions of the mid 6th century BC.12 Boelte argues that the Spartans
established a festival, the festival of the Parparonia, in Parparus, i.e. in Thyrea, to celebrate this
victory. In the 4th century, when the Argives conquered the Thyreatis, the Spartans had to move the
festival to Sparta and the Parparonia and the Gymnopaidiai merged.13
Although agreeing on the merging of the festivals with Boelte, Wade-Gery assumes that even at the
time of the battle of the champions the Gymnopaidiai also had some choruses.
Unlike Wade-Gery, Jacoby completely agreed with Boelte and, moreover, expunged the temporal
clause ὅτε καὶ τὰς Γυµνοπαιδιὰς ἐπιτελοῦσιν assuming that it was added by Athenaeus or by his
epitomist.14 I’m not sure if it’s necessary to expunge, but one thing is very clear: this temporal
clause sounds odd. Not, however, for the reasons indicated by Jacoby. I think that the difficulties
arise because Sosibius is trying to give coherence to a festival which was in his time the result of
several fusions, which occurred at different times, between different festivals.
Some of these mergers- these different stages of the festival- can be reconstructed. The songs of
Thaletas and Alcman, cited by Sosibius, must have been added to the Gymnopaidiai after the
second half of the 7th century, according to the recent chronological studies on these two poets.15
The paeans of Dionysodotos, though, must have been added after the second half of the 6th century,
when this poet is believed to have lived.16 It is arguable that they were added after the battle of the
champions, when the Spartans also started celebrating their superiority over the Argives in
Parparus, in another festival, the Parparonia. This last festival must have been moved to Sparta
when the Argives regained control of Thyrea in the first half of the 4th century. By then, the
ΚΑΙ ΔΑΜΟΝΟΝ ΕΝΙΚΕ
ΠΑΙΣ ΙΟΝ ΠΑΡΠΑΡΟΝΙΑ
ΣΤΑΔΙΟΝ ΚΑΙ ΔΙΑΥΛΟΝ
Cfr. SEG XLIX (1999) 391=SEG XLVII (1997) 354=SEG XLIII (1993) 1221=SEG XLII (1992) 311=SEG XL (1990)
356=SEG XXXIX (1989) 370=SEG XXVI (1976–1977) 463=SEG XV (1958) 216=SEG XIV (1957) 330=SEG XI
(1950) 650. See Richer 2012, p. 606 with previous bibliography.
11
Plin. Nat. Hist. 4.16 f Mayhoff; Choirob. GrammGr, 4.1 p. 297: (=E. Bekker, Anecdota Graeca III, Berlin 1821, p.
1408, s.v. Πάρ), which depends on Herodian. de pros. cath. 3.1, 397, 22–24 Lentz.
12
Kalitses 1965, pp. 10–18; Meyer 1972, col. 527; Pritchett 1980, p. 110; Christien 1985, pp. 455–66; Müller 1987, p.
871. Contra, Phaklares 1987, pp. 101–119.
13
Bölte 1929, p. 124 ff. See also Weber 1887, p. 52; Nilsson 1906, p. 141.
14
Jacoby 1955a, p. 647; 1955b, p. 371.
15
Manfredini-Piccirilli 1980, p. 226; Schneider 1985, pp. 8, 12, 15 f, 36; Richer 2005a, S. 270. Contra, Shaw 2003, p.
88 f, 189–94 and 205–9
16
Chrimes 1949, p. 309.
4
Gymnopaidiai included the songs of Thaletas and Alcman, the paeans of Dionysodotos, and the
Parparonia.
This reconstruction seems plausible to me. But there remains at least one problem to be solved.
Sosibius says that the crowns were worn to commemorate those who had fallen in a battle which
took place in Thyrea. Given that these songs must have been composed before the battle of the
champions, which also took place in Thyrea, what battle is Sosibius referring to?
3. What battle fought at Thyrea is Sosibius referring to? In fact, we have different pieces of
information about one or more battles fought in Thyrea before the 6th century, as Noel Robertson
noted. Let’s analyse these different data:
1) According to Solinus, who writes between the 2nd and the 3rd century AD, the Spartans and
the Argives fought in Thyrea “in anno septimodecimo regni Romuli”, that is in 735 BC (II
9). His source could be a gloss on Nat.Hist. 4.8: the Naturalis Historia is one of the works
most often consulted by Solinus. 17
2) Eusebius reports another battle fought in Thyrea between Spartans and Argives, but fifteen
years later (720 BC). Jacoby demonstrated that the battles referred to both by Solinus and
Eusebius are one and the same battle. In both authors the chronology of this battle is related
to the chronology of the so-called First Messenian War. Both Solinus and Eusebius agreed
on the fact that the battle of Thyrea took place 4 years after the end of the First Messenian
War, but they follow 2 different chronologies of this war: Solinus follows Eratosthenes,
whereas Eusebius follows Sosibius. 18
3) We then have a third source who reports a battle fought in Thyrea between Spartans and
Argives: Plutarch. Plutarch, explaining in an apophthegma, that is a kind of well-known,
short pithy instructive saying, gives a very confused account of a battle fought in Thyrea
between the Argives and the Spartans, the latter led by Polidoros (231 E Nachstädt—
Sieveking—Titchener). The apophthegma is included in the Apophthegmata laconica, which
are spurious, but still drawn up by Plutarch. 19 Polidoros is believed to have reigned from
the end of the 8th until the beginning of the 7th century BC.
20
But the question is more
complicated than that. Looking at these sources properly it seems quite clear that the episode
related to the apophthegma mixes some features of the herodotean account of the battle of
17
Cfr. Walter 1963, pp. 98–119; 1969, p. 5 ff.
Jacoby 1902, p. 128; Mosshammer 1979, p. 208 f.
19
Gemoll 1924; Nachstädt 1935; Ziegler 1965; Fuhrmann 1988, p. 135; Tritle 1992, p. 4289; Santaniello 1995, p. 18 f;
Hodkinson 2000, p. 39; Pelling 2002, p. 65.
20
Beloch 1912, p. 191; Carlier 1984, p. 316 ff; Musti-Torelli 1991, p. 170; Richer 1998, pp. 84-86; Meier 2001, col. 55
f.
18
5
the champions and others of the herodotean account of the battle of Sepeia,
21
so that it is
quite likely that the author of the apophthegma had some hazy information about an archaic
battle fought in Thyrea and attributed it to Polidoros- as it was typical for classical,
Hellenistic and Roman Sparta to attribute some glorious deeds and sayings to the kings and
generals of the past.
22
Because information about this battle was fuzzy, the battle was
reinvented by collecting details from the herodotean account of the battle of the champions
and of the herodotean account of the battle of Sepeia.
Nevertheless, this battle of Thyrea must have been fought, as the information on which the
apophthegma is based seems to prove- even Jacoby considers it historical. This will appear
clearer in the following.
4) In 3.7.2-5 Pausanias refers to different battles fought in Thyrea between Spartans and
Argives: a) a battle under Echestratos, in the second half of the 11th century; b) a battle
under Prytanis, at the end of the 11th/beginning of the 10th century; c) a battle under
Charillos, at the end of the 10th and beginning of the 9th century; d) a battle under Nicander,
second half of the 9th century; e) a battle under Theopompus, beginning of the 7th century.
Elsewhere, Pausanias refers to other Thyreatan battles also under Labotas (Paus. 3.2.2 f) and
under Alkamenes (Paus. 3.2.7). 23 The chronology of all these battles is evidently affected
by mechanisms of reduplication and backprojection to the archaic period of classical and
Hellenistic battles fought in Thyrea, which effectively were numerous; and some battles
could even have been invented. But no one can deny that all these pieces of information
about battles fought in Thyrea in the first centuries of the Archaic past must reflect at least a
kernel of truth. And this kernel of truth is certainly truer than the connection with Hysiai. A
battle in Thyrea in the 8th or -7th century BC is highly probable, and certainly more likely
than the battle of Hysiai.
Summarizing.
The Gymnopaidiai was founded before the middle of the 7th century. No source links that
foundation and that festival with the battle of Hysiai.
21
Cfr. Schneider 1985, p. 22; Fuhrmann 1988, p. 338; Richer 1998, p. 82.
See, e.g., Anth. Pal. 7.432; Anth. Pal. 7.720; Chriserm. FGrHist 287 F 2a in [Plut.], Par.Min. 306 A–B. Cfr. Franchi
2013.
23
For the discussion of the chronological problems of these battles, see Beloch 1912, p. 191; Den Boer 1956; Henige
1974, p. 213; Carlier 1984, p. 316 ff; Calame 1987; Vannicelli 1993, p. 43 ff; Musti 1991, p. 171 f; Richer 1998, chap.
7; De Vido 2001, p. 212 ff.
22
6
Some years later the Spartans started another festival, consisting of the performance of some
choruses singing asmata composed by Thaletas and Alcman in order to commemorate the dead of a
battle fought between Spartans and Argives in Thyrea which occurred at the end of the 8th century
or during the 7th century. During this festival the leader of the choruses wore the thyreatikoi.
These songs and the Gymnopaidiai merged.
After the battle of the champions of the middle of the 6th century BC the Spartans added to the
Gymnopaidiai the performance of the paeans composed by Dionysodotos, which celebrated this
victory, and at the same time founded near Parparus, in Thyrea, the Parparonia, in order to celebrate
the same victory. In fact, victory in the battle of the champions was celebrated both in Sparta and in
Thyrea, i.e. Parparus.
But in the second quarter of the 4th century the Argives regained control of the Thyreatis, the district
of Thyrea, and the Spartans had to move the Parparonia to Sparta. The Gymnopaidiai and the
Parparonia merged.
When Sosibius writes, all of these mergers had already been accomplished centuries before, and
people were no longer aware of the many other festivals which had merged with the Gymnopaidiai.
This explains the difficulties of the Sosibius passage, which was complicated even more by those
consulting him, perhaps through a middle source. Nonetheless, something appears to me to be
incontestable: that according to all the mentioned sources, without exception these festivals are
linked to battles fought in Thyrea, not in Hysiai.
Adler, A. 1928–1938. Suidae Lexicon, 5 voll. Leipzig: Teubner.
Adler, W. and P. Tuffin, P. 2002. The Chronography of George Synkellos. A Byzantine Chronicle of
Universal History from the Creation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Alpers, K. 1981. Das attizistische Lexikon des Oros. Berlin–New York: de Gruyter.
Alpers, K. 1988. ‚Das Lexikon des Photios und das Lexikon Rhetoricum des Etymologicum
Genuinum‘, Jahrb. d. Öst.Byz. 38, pp. 171–91.
Alpers, K. 1990. ‚Griechische Lexikographie in Antike und Altertum‘. In H.-A. Koch and A. KrupEbert (eds.), Welt der Information. Stuttgart: Metzler, pp. 14–38.
7
Andrewes, A. 1949. ‚The Corinthian Actaeon and Pheidon of Argos‘, CQ 43.1/2, pp. 70–78.
Beloch, K.J. 1912. Griechische Geschichte, I 2. Berlin–Leipzig: de Gruyter.
Billot, M. F. 1989–90. ‘Apollo Pyhtéen et l’Argolide archaïque: histoire et mythes’, Archaiognosia
6, pp. 35–100.
Bölte, F. 1929. ‘Zu lakonischen Festen‘, RhM N.F. 78, pp. 124–43.
Boring, T.A. 1979. Literacy in Ancient Sparta. Leiden: Brill.
Calame, C. 1977. Les choeurs de jeunes filles en Grèce archaïque, I. Roma: Edizioni dell'Ateneo &
Bizzarri.
Calame, C. 1987. ‘Le récit généalogique spartiate: la répresentation mythologique d’une
organisation spatiale’, QS 13, pp. 43–91.
Campbell Cunningham, I. 2003. Synagoge: Texts of the Original Version and of Ms. B. Berlin: de
Gruyter.
Carlier, P. 1984. La Royauté en Grèce avant Alexandre. Strasbourg: AECR.
Cartledge, P. 1979. Sparta and Lakonia. A Regional History 1300-362 BC. London: Routledge.
Cartledge, P. 2009. Ancient Greece. A History in Eleven Cities. New York: Oxford University
Press.
Chrimes, K.M.T. 1949. Ancient Sparta, a Re-examination of the Evidence. Manchester: University
Press.
Christien, J. 1985. ‚L’invasion de la Laconie (370/69) et les routes du Nord de l’Etat spartiate‘. In
Peloponnesiakon Spoudon. Praktika du IIIe Congrès international de Kalamata 1985, pp. 325–36.
Crusius, O. 1895. s. v. Apostolios. RE II 1, col. 182 f.
Den Boer, W. 1956. ‘Political Propaganda in Greek Chronology’, Historia, 5, pp. 162-77.
De Vido, S. 2001. ‘Genealogie di Spartani re nelle Storie erodotee’, QS, 53, pp. 209-27.
Ducat, J. 2006. Spartan Education. Youth and Society in the Classical Period. Swansea: The
Classical Press of Wales.
Ehrenberg, V. 1929. s.v. Sparta. RE III A, col. 1373–1453.
Erbse, H. 1965. Vorwort zu Lexica Graeca Minora. Hildesheim: Olms.
Franchi, E. 2012. ‘La battaglia di Isie e l’identità argiva: un caso di invenzione della tradizione?’. In
Franchi, E. and Proietti, G., Forme della memoria e dinamiche identitarie nell’antichità grecoromana. Trento: Università degli Studi. pp. 43-66.
8
Franchi, E. 2013. ‘Otriada, Leonida e i Trecento: la Battaglia dei Campioni e il miraggio spartano in
età imperiale’, in SemRom 2.1, pp. 131-58.
Franchi, E., forthcoming. Sparta e la guerra oltre il miraggio: le guerre per la Tireatide fra
tradizione e storia.
Fuhrmann, F. 1988. Plutarque Œuvres morales. Paris: Hachette.
Gehrke, H.-J. 1990. ‚Herodot und die Tyrannenchronologie‘. In W. Ax (ed.), Memoria rerum
veterum. Stuttgart: Steiner, pp. 33–49.
Gemoll, W. 1924. Das Apophtegma. Leipzig–Wien: Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky.
Hall, J. 1995. ‘How Argive was the Argive Heraion?’, in AJA 94, pp. 577–613.
Hendriks, I.H.M. 1982. De interpolitieke en internationale betrekkingen van Argos in de vijfde
eeuw v.Ch. gezien gegen de achtergrond van de intrapolitieke ontwikkelingen. Groningen:
Rijksuniversiteit.
Henige, D.P. 1974. The Chronology of Oral Tradition. Quest for a Chimera. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
F. Hiller von Gärtringen, 1912. s.v. Gymnopaidien, RE 7, col. 2087–89.
St. Hodkinson, 2000. Property and Wealth in Classical Sparta. London: Duckworth and the
Classical Press of Wales.
G.L. Huxley, 1962. Early Sparta. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Jacoby, F. 1902. Apollodorus Chronik. Berlin: Weidmann.
Jacoby, F. 1955a. Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, III B Kommentar Text. Leiden: Brill.
Jacoby, F. 1955b. Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, III B Kommentar Noten. Leiden:
Brill.
Kalitzis, K.1965. ‚Euas Epigraphè‘, ArchEph 99, pp. 10–18.
Kelly, Th. 1970a. ‘The Traditional Enmity Between Sparta and Argos. The Birth and Development
of a Myth’, AHR 75, col. 971–1003.
Kelly, Th. 1970b. ‘Did the Argives defeat the Spartans at Hysiai in 669 BC?’,
AJPh 91, pp. 31–42.
Kelly, Th. 1976. A History of Argos to 500 B.C. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Koiv, M. 2003. Ancient Tradition and Early Greek History. Tallinn: Avita.
Latte, K. 1953. Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon, I. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
9
Lévy, E. 2007. ‘Sosibios le laconien’. In D. Lenfant (ed), Athénée et les fragments d’historiens.
Actes du colloque de Strasbourg (16-18 juin 2005). Paris: Boccard, pp. 277–89.
Manfredini, M. and Piccirilli, L. 1980. Plutarco, Vite parallele: Le vite di Licurgo e Numa. Roma:
Mondadori.
Meier, M. 1998. Aristokraten und Damoden. Untersuchungen zur inneren Entwicklung Spartas im
7. Jahrhundert v. Chr. und zur politischen Funktion der Dichtung des Tyrtaios. Stuttgart: Steiner.
Meier, M. 2001. ‚Polydorus‘, DNP 10, col. 55 f.
Meritt, B.D. 1931. ‘The Spartan Gymnopaidia’, in CPh 26, pp. 70–84.
Meyer, E. 1972. s.v. Parparos, KlP 4, col. 527.
Michell, H. 1952. Sparta. Cambridge: University Press.
Michell, H. 1953. Sparte et les Spartiates. Paris : Payot.
Mosshammer, A.A. 1979. The Chronicle of Eusebius and Greek Chronographic Tradition. London:
Bucknell University Press.
Müller, D. 1987. Topographischer Bildkommentar zu den Historien Herodotos, I Griechenland,
Tübingen: Wasmuth.
Murray, O. 19932 . Early Greece. London: Harvard University Press.
Musti, D. and Torelli, M., 1991. Pausania Guida della Grecia III La Laconia, Milano: Mondadori.
Nachstädt, W. 1935. ‚Das Verhältnis der Lykurgvita Plutarchs zu den Apophtegmata Lycurgi und
den Instituta Laconica, Berlin: Sitzungen des Phil. Vereins, 1935.
Nafissi, M. 1991. La nascita del kosmos. Studi sulla storia e la società di Sparta. Napoli: Edizioni
Scientifiche Italiane.
Nilsson, M.P. 1906. Griechische Feste von religiöser Bedeutung. Leipzig: Teubner.
Nobili, C. 2011. ‘Threnodic Elegy in Sparta’, GRBS 51, pp. 26–48.
Osborne, R. 1996. Greece in the Making 1200-479 BC. London: Routledge.
Parker, R. 1989. ‘Spartan Religion’. In A. Powell (ed.), Classical Sparta: Techniques behind Her
Success. London: Routledge, pp. 142–72.
Parker, V. 1993. ‘Some Dates in Early Spartan History’, Klio 75, pp. 45–60.
Pelling, Ch. 2002. Plutarch and History. London: The Classical Press of Wales and Duckworth.
Petterson, M.1992. Cults of Apollo at Sparta. Stockholm: Svenska Institutet in Athens.
Phaklares, P.B. 1987. ‘The battle of Thyrea’, Horos 5, pp. 101–19.
10
Prandi, L. 1999. ‘Tipologia e struttura dei lemmi di argomento greco nella Suda’. In G. Zecchini
(ed), Il lessico Suda e la memoria del passato a Bisanzio. Atti della giornata di studio (Milano 29
aprile 1998). Bari: Edipuglia, pp. 9–28.
Pritchett, W.K. 1988. Studies in Ancient Greek Topography, III. Berkeley–Los Angeles: University
of California Press.
Richer, N. 1998. Les éphores. Études sur l'histoire et sur l'image de Sparte (VIIIe-IIIe siècle avant
Jésus-Christ). Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne.
Richer, N. 2005a. ‘L’histoire péloponnésienne archaïque: problèmes chronologiques. À propos d’un
livre récent“, AC 74, pp. 267–73.
Richer, N. 2005b. ‘Les Gymnopédies de Sparte’, Ktèma 30, pp. 237–62.
Richer, N. 2012. La religion des Spartiates. Croyances et cultes dans l’Antiquité. Paris: Belles
Lettres.
Robertson, N. 1992. Festival and Legends. The Formation of Greek Cities in the Light of Public
Ritual, Toronto–Buffalo–London: University of Toronto Press.
Santaniello, C. 1995. Detti dei Lacedemoni. Napoli: d’Auria.
Schneider, J. 1985. ‘La Chronologie d'Alcman’, REG 98, pp. 1–64.
Sergent, B. 1993. ‘Le sens d’une danse spartiate’, DHA 19.2, pp. 161–78.
Shaw, P.J. 1999. ‘Did Kleomenes I fight the Battle of Hysiai ?’. In Hodkinson, S. and Powell, A.
Sparta: New Perspectives London: Duckworth with the Classical Press of Wales.
Shaw, P.-J. 2003. Discrepancies in Olympiad Dating and Chronological Problems of Archaic
Peloponnesian History. Stuttgart: Steiner.
Strouth, D. and French, R. 1941. s.v. Phrynikos, RE 20.1, col. 920–25.
Theodiridis, C. (ed.) 1982. Photii Patriarchae Lexicon, I. Berlin and New York: de Gruyter.
Vannicelli, P. 1993. Erodoto e la storia dell’Alto e del Medio Arcaismo (Sparta-Tessaglia-Cirene).
Roma: GEI.
Wade-Gery, H.T. 1949. ‘A Note on the Origins of the Spartan Gymnopaidiai’, CQ 181, pp. 79–82.
Walter, H. 1963. ‘C. Julius Solinus und seine Vorlagen‘, C&M 24, pp. 86–157.
Walter, H. 1969. Die “Collectanea rerum memorabilium” des C. Iulius Solinus. Wiesbaden:
Steiner.
Weber, L. 1887. Quaestiones laconicae. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
11
Wentzel, G. 1895. ‘Beiträge zur Geschichte der griechischen Lexikographen‘, Sitzungsberichte der
kgl. Preuss. Akademie der Wissensch. zu Berlin, pp. 477–87.
Whitaker, G. 2007. ‘Unvollendetes: the Oxford Plato lexicon’, BICS Suppl. 101, pp. 97-112.
Ziehen, L. 1929. s.v. Sparta (Kulte), RE 3.A, col. 1453–1525.
Ziegler, K. 1965. Plutarco, Brescia: Paideia.
12

Download Report